A civil magistrate in Pakistan has found the head of marketing for Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd. guilty of violating Pakistan’s law that tightly restricts cigarette advertising, criticizing the executive’s excuse that he didn’t believe placing ads in magazines was the same as putting them in the "press."

The tobacco executive admitted that the company had run the ads, which included full-page, color advertising for Marlboro cigarettes in many of Pakistan’s leading magazines throughout November and December. But he claimed he didn’t realize these ads were subject to restrictions that limit their size and require pictorial warnings – because he believed the word "press" did not include magazines.

"This is a landmark decision in the tobacco control history of Pakistan," said Khurram Hashmi, national coordinator of the Coalition for Tobacco Control. "The tobacco industry, for quite some time now, has been blatantly violating the laws all over the country by covertly offering cash rebates to its consumers and has been trying to influence the government to undo what has been achieved so far."

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